Five Veggies You Should Be Eating

A healthy kitchen promotes variety, especially when it comes to vegetables. Keep your kitchen stocked with produce that covers the whole spectrum of colors, including the following:

Onions: This must-have vegetable adds flavor to meals. Allicin, a phytochemical found in most varieties of onions, may be responsible for its health benefits, including lowering cholesterol and blood pressure.

Garlic: This fragrant bulb should be a staple in every kitchen. It contains many of the same phytochemicals as onions, as well as antibiotic and antiviral properties. It may help boost the immune system, prevent colds, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and fight fungal or yeast infections.

Spinach: This dark leafy green (and others like it, such as kale and collards) contains lutein and zeaxanthin; antioxidant carotenoids that may help prevent cataracts and macular degeneration. Spinach is also a source of calcium and folate, a B vitamin that helps to prevent birth defects. Buy organic spinach, since pesticides are commonly used on conventionally grown varieties.

Cabbage: This low-cost yet highly nutritious cruciferous vegetable contains nutrients called indoles, which may protect against both breast and prostate cancer. It also provides significant amounts of fiber and vitamin C.

Sweet potatoes: Rich in beta carotene, these vegetables may help boost the immune system, deliver vitamin C and folate (which may reduce the risk of heart disease and prevent certain birth defects), and are low on the glycemic index and glycemic load charts. Plus, their naturally sweet, delicious taste could easily substitute for a dessert!
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..............from Dr. Weil website, May 29, 2006.

Daily Tip - Spiritual Wellness

Praying for wellness has recently become an unexpectedly controversial practice, but one I feel is a legitimate addition to conventional medical treatment. It has no potential to cause harm, and its benefits are boundless. Appealing to a higher power to restore health is recognized across all cultures throughout history, and speaks to the spiritual aspect of our being.If you're interested in this subject, I recommend you read an excellent book on this topic, "Reinventing Medicine: Beyond Mind-Body to a New Era of Healing," by Larry Dossey, M.D., (Harper San Francisco, 1999). In his book, Dr. Dossey describes a growing body of scientific evidence attesting to the power of prayer in healing.

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...form Dr.Weil website

Prostate Cancer Patients Often Seek Alternative Therapy

Use of complimentary medicine is a very common in patients who have a diagnosis of prostate cancer. In fact about one third of prostate cancer patients in the United States use some type of complementary or alternative medicine. This finding was revealed in a large national study. The survey also showed that as many as half of patients who use such alternative therapies don't discuss this issue with their physicians. It is important that all patients who are using alternative or complimentary forms of treatment convey this information to their physicians. Past studies have found that prostate cancer patients often begin taking alternative or complementary medicines after receiving their diagnosis. To investigate more specifically, Elkin and his colleagues looked at use of more than 50 different types of complementary or alternative medicines in a group of 2,582 men in a registry of prostate cancer patients. One third reported using some type of alternative medicine, with 26% using mineral or vitamin supplements, 16% taking herbs, 13% taking antioxidants and 12% taking some type of alternative treatment for "prostate health," such as saw palmetto or lycopene.

Gabor Mate in his book, “When the Body Says No” (2003), says :

“Whichever modality of treatment people choose – conventional medicine with or without complementary healing; alternative approaches like energy medicine or various mind – body techniques; ancient Eastern practices like Ayurvedic medicine or yoga or Chinese acupuncture; the universal practice of meditation techniques; psychotherapy; nutritional healing – the key to healing is the individual’s active, free and informed choice.”

Pomegranate Juice Affects Prostate Cancer -Study

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pomegranate juice, a deep red juice becoming popular as a health drink, works against prostate cancer cells in lab dishes and in mice, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.Prostate tumors shrank in mice infected with human prostate tumors who drank pomegranate juice, the researchers report in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the national Academy of Sciences.The juice is rich in antioxidants -- chemicals that give fruits and vegetables their deep colors and which also act against the chemicals that damage cells, leading to cancer and other disease."Our study -- while early -- adds to growing evidence that pomegranates contain very powerful agents against cancer, particularly prostate cancer," said Dr. Hasan Mukhtar, a professor of dermatology at the University of Wisconsin Medical School, who led the study."There is good reason now to test this fruit in humans -- both for cancer prevention and for treatment," he said in a statement.It is a far step from treating mice infected with human cancer to treating people, but other studies have also suggested pomegranate juice and other antioxidant-rich foods may help fight tumors.

Salmon To Prevent Prostate Cancer

Everyone knows that eating fish rich in omega-3 fats may protect you from heart attacks. Now there is one more reason to eat fish rich in omega-3 fats. Recent research has shown that fish that contains good amounts of omega-3 fats may actually protect men from prostate cancer.Omega-3 fatty acids together with omega-6 fatty acids are essential fatty acids that the body cannot synthesize. This has to be supplied from external sources and is shown to protect from heart attacks.Rich sources of Omega-6 fats include vegetable oils, nuts and seeds. Omega 3 fats are found in oily fish such as salmon and mackerel.This study led by Dr Mick Brown found while Omega-6 increased the spread of tumor cells into bone marrow, omega-3 blocked the spread."We only need about half as much omega-3 as omega-6 - that will still stop cancer cells from spreading," Dr Mick Brown said.........

MY OWN STORY.

This story follows a chronological order from my own experience. It is written to assist others who have a prostate cancer diagnosis or for family members who care about them. All that follows is seen through my strong commitment to the value that the body can heal itself and one needs to examine alternatives to the wisdom of conventional medicine. This must be seen, then, as a viewpoint mixed with fact and description and not as a recommended prescription for others to follow. One of the significant learnings of my journey to date is that we are intelligent people with multiple resources to assist in making personal choices about our own health, including treatment for prostate cancer.

Read the story at: www.prostatejourney.com

ULTRASOUND TREATMENT FOR PROSTATE CANCER.

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The most cutting edge treatment for prostate cancer is the high intensity focussed ultrasound, often abbreviated to HIFU. With the patient under anaesthetic, a rectal probe fires highly focussed ultrasound waves at the prostate, burning off cancerous tissue without damaging surrounding organs. The operation takes less than three hours - compared to weeks of radiation- and hasn't the risk of incontinence and impotence from a radical prostatectomy. Currently, there are two operational HIFU's in Canada, both privately operated - one in Windsor, Ont., and the other in Toronto.

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...from, MACLEANS, May 1, 2006.